SparkNotes: The Oedipus Plays: Context The Oedipus Plays Plot Overview Greek Theater Greek theater was very different from what we call theater today. It was, first of all, part of a religious festival. To attend a performance of one of these plays was an act of worship, not entertainment or intellectual pastime. But it is difficult for us to even begin to understand this aspect of the Greek theater, because the religion in question was very different from modern religions. The god celebrated by the performances of these plays was Dionysus, a deity who lived in the wild and was known for his subversive revelry. The worship of Dionysus was associated with an ecstasy that bordered on madness. Dionysus, whose cult was that of drunkenness and sexuality, little resembles modern images of God. A second way in which Greek theater was different from modern theater is in its cultural centrality: every citizen attended these plays. Greek plays were put on at annual festivals (at the beginning of spring, the season of Dionysus), often for as many as 15,000 spectators at once. They dazzled viewers with their special effects, singing, and dancing, as well as with their beautiful language.

At the end of each year’s festivals, judges would vote to decide which playwright’s play was the best. In these competitions, Sophocles was king. It is thought that he won the first prize at the Athenian festival eighteen times. Far from being a tortured artist working at the fringes of society, Sophocles was among the most popular and well-respected men of his day. Like most good Athenians, Sophocles was involved with the political and military affairs of Athenian democracy. He did stints as a city treasurer and as a naval officer, and throughout his life he was a close friend of the foremost statesman of the day, Pericles. At the same time, Sophocles wrote prolifically. He is believed to have authored 123 plays, only seven of which have survived. Sophocles lived a long life, but not long enough to witness the downfall of his Athens. Toward the end of his life, Athens became entangled in a war with other city-states jealous of its prosperity and power, a war that would end the glorious century during which Sophocles lived. This political fall also marked an artistic fall, for the unique art of Greek theater began to fade and eventually died.

Since then, we have had nothing like it. Nonetheless, we still try to read it, and we often misunderstand it by thinking of it in terms of the categories and assumptions of our own arts. Greek theater still needs to be read, but we must not forget that, because it is so alien to us, reading these plays calls not only for analysis, but also for imagination. Antigone Antigone was probably the first of the three Theban plays that Sophocles wrote, although the events dramatized in it happen last. Antigone is one of the first heroines in literature, a woman who fights against a male power structure, exhibiting greater bravery than any of the men who scorn her. Antigone is not only a feminist play but a radical one as well, making rebellion against authority appear splendid and noble. If we think of Antigone as something merely ancient, we make the same error as the Nazi censors who allowed Jean Anouilh’s adaptation of Antigone to be performed, mistaking one of the most powerful texts of the French Resistance for something harmlessly academic. Oedipus the King The story of Oedipus was well known to Sophocles’ audience.

Oedipus arrives at Thebes a stranger and finds the town under the curse of the Sphinx, who will not free the city unless her riddle is answered. Oedipus solves the riddle and, since the king has recently been murdered, becomes the king and marries the queen. In time, he comes to learn that he is actually a Theban, the king’s son, cast out of Thebes as a baby. He has killed his father and married his mother. Horrified, he blinds himself and leaves Thebes forever. The story was not invented by Sophocles. Quite the opposite: the play’s most powerful effects often depend on the fact that the audience already knows the story. Since the first performance of Oedipus Rex, the story has fascinated critics just as it fascinated Sophocles. Aristotle used this play and its plot as the supreme example of tragedy. Sigmund Freud famously based his theory of the “Oedipal Complex” on this story, claiming that every boy has a latent desire to kill his father and sleep with his mother.

The story of Oedipus has given birth to innumerable fascinating variations, but we should not forget that this play is one of the variations, not the original story itself. Oedipus at Colonus Beginning with the arrival of Oedipus in Colonus after years of wandering, Oedipus at Colonus ends with Antigone setting off toward her own fate in Thebes. In and of itself, Oedipus at Colonus is not a tragedy; it hardly even has a plot in the normal sense of the word. Thought to have been written toward the end of Sophocles’ life and the conclusion of the Golden Age of Athens, Oedipus at Colonus, the last of the Oedipus plays, is a quiet and religious play, one that does not attempt the dramatic fireworks of the others. Written after Antigone, the play for which it might be seen as a kind of prequel, Oedipus at Colonus seems not to look forward to the suffering that envelops that play but back upon it, as though it has already been surmounted.

The three Theban plays - Sophocles, Robert Fagles - Google Books The three Theban plays 0 Reviews Towering over the rest of Greek tragedy, these three plays are among the most enduring and timeless dramas ever written. Robert Fagles' translation conveys all of Sophocles' lucidity and power: the cut and thrust of his dialogue, his ironic edge, the surge and majesty of his choruses and, above all, the agonies and triumphs of his characters. From inside the book What people are saying - Write a review We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.

Contents A NOTE ON THE TEXT OF SOPHOCLES 375 No preview available - 1984 Common terms and phrases action actors alive altar Antigone Antigone's Apollo Argos Athenian Athens audience blind blood bring brother bury child chorus citizens Corinth corpse CREON curse dark daughters dead dear death Delphi destiny Dionysus divine doom dreadful earth Eleusinian mysteries enemies Eteocles Euripides Exit eyes fate father fear fifth-century Furies glory Goddesses gods gone Greek word grief grove guards Hades Haemon hands hear heart hero honor human ISMENE JOCASTA killed Laius land LEADER lines live look lord Megareus MESSENGER mother murderer never Oedipus at Colonus OEDIPUS Oh Oedipus the King once oracle pain palace Pericles Persephone plague play Polybus Polynices prayer prophecy prophet rage rites SENTRY SHEPHERD sister sons Sophoclean Sophocles speak speech stage stranger suffer suppliant tell terrible theater Theban Thebes Theseus things throne Tiresias tomb truth turn voice What's Zeus About the author (1982) The Greek dramatist Sophocles, born to a wealthy family at Colonus, near Athens, was

 admired as a boy for his personal beauty and musical skill.

He served faithfully as a treasurer and general for Athens when it was expanding its empire and influence. In the dramatic contests, he defeated Aeschylus in 468 b.c. for first prize in tragedy, wrote a poem to Herodotus (see Vol. 3), and led his chorus and actors in mourning for Euripides just a few months before his own death. He wrote approximately 123 plays, of which 7 tragedies are extant, as well as a fragment of his satiric play, Ichneutae (Hunters). His plays were produced in the following order: Ajax (c.450 b.c.), Antigone (441 b.c.), Oedipus Tyrannus (c.430 b.c.), Trachiniae (c.430 b.c.), Electra (between 418 and 410 b.c.), Philoctetes (409 b.c.), and Oedipus at Colonus (posthumously in 401 b.c.). With Sophocles, Greek tragedy reached its most characteristic form.

He added a third actor, made each play independent---that is, not dependent on others in a trilogy---increased the numbers of the chorus, introduced the use of scenery, shifted the focus from religious to more philosophical issues, and brought language and characters, though still majestic, nearer to everyday life. His finely delineated characters are responsible for the tragedy that befalls them, and they accept it heroically. Aristotle (see Vols. 3, 4, and 5) states that Sophocles said he portrayed people as they ought to be; Euripides, as they are. His utter command of tragic speech in the simple grandeur of his choral odes, dialogues, and monologues encourages the English reader to compare him to Shakespeare (see Vol. 1). Translator and professor Robert Fagles was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 11, 1933. He received a BA in English from Amherst College and a PhD in English from Yale University. While obtaining his degrees, he studied Latin and Greek on the side. He taught at Yale for one year and then joined the faculty at Princeton University as an English professor and remained there until he retired in 2002.

While at Princeton, he created the university's department of comparative literature and received an honorary doctorate in June 2007. He was also a renowned translator of Latin and Greek. His first published translation was of the Greek poet Bacchylides (1961), which was followed by versions of The Oresteia by Aeschylus and the plays, Antigone, Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles. Fagles was best known for his versions of The Iliad (1990), The Odyssey (1996) and The Aeneid (2006). Instead of being an exacting literal translator, he sought to reinterpret the classics in a contemporary idiom which gave his translations a narrative energy and verve. He died of prostate cancer on March 26, 2008. The Three Major Greek Playwrights: Ancient Greek Drama Study Guide Ancient Greek Drama Study Guide: The Three Major Greek Playwrights written by: Brian D.

Taylor • edited by: SForsyth • updated: 1/4/2012 A study guide covering the three major Greek playwrights: Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides. These men helped develop tragedy and were masters of the genre in their time. slide 1 of 7 Playwrights of Fifth Century (B.C.E.) Greece Most of what we know about Greek tragedy is taken from the plays of the three major playwrights of the time. All of the major Greek tragedies that are studied in high schools and colleges worldwide were written by either Sophocles, Aeschylus, or Euripides. While the works of these men is great, it should be noted that theirs are the only surviving plays from this century. Many playwrights made contributions during this era, but only the works of Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides remain. This is most likely due to their popularity during their time and beyond. Thus, we can safely assume that their masterpieces were treasured not only by us, but also by their contemporaries. This study guide will focus heavily on the plays of these great dramatists.

As with any playwright, a good way to understand the writer is to study his or her work. I encourage you to read any of these great plays as the plays themselves give the best understanding of the Greek tragedy. slide 2 of 7 Aeschylus (523-456 B.C.E.) The oldest Greek plays that remain today are by Aeschylus. He is often referred to as "the father of tragedy." Aeschylus is known to have written about eighty plays, but only seven remain. While most tragedies were written as trilogies, Aeschylus was the author of the only trilogy that remains in full, the Oresteia. Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, and Eumenides are the three plays that make up this trilogy. Aeschylus won the tragic contest at the Festival of Dionysus thirteen times. His most noteworthy contribution to the theatre is the addition of a second actor. Prior to Aeschylus, only one actor had been used to plays multiple roles. While the two actors still played multiple roles, Aeschylus' addition of the second actor allowed for dialogue between characters.

He is also thought to be the first of the Greek dramatists to directly involve the chorus in the action of the play. slide 3 of 7 Sophocles (496-406 B.C.E.) Sophocles is considered the best of the three major tragedians. He won twenty-four contests at the Festival of Dionysus, so the people of his time seem to have agreed. Sophocles wrote more than 120 plays, but only seven have survived the test of time. Of these, is his Oedipus the King, which is considered by many to be the most perfect of all Greek tragedies. Sophocles made many contributions to the art. The most noteworthy of these are the addition of a third actor, limiting the chorus to fifteen members, and the first use of scene painting. More than anything else, he is known for his mastery of writing tragedy. If you read only one Greek tragedy in your lifetime, choose one of Sophocles' plays. slide 4 of 7 Euripides (480-406 B.C.E.) Euripides' work was not very popular during his lifetime. He only won the contests at the Festival of Dionysus four times.

However, his work was highly appreciated in the years and centuries after his death. Due to his incredible popularity in later years, a remarkable number of his plays have survived, eighteen in total. Euripides was the most unique of the three great tragedians. He was the first tragedian to meld tragedy with comic elements to create tragicomedies. Euripides often focused on minor myths for the subjects of his plays. On the rare occasion that he used a major myth, he made drastic changes to it. This could explain his lack of popularity to the Greek crowds at the City Dionysia. He is also the author of the only satyr play to remain completely intact, Cyclops. slide 5 of 7 Aeschylus' Surviving Plays The Persians (472 B.C.E.) - The oldest surviving play, not only by Aeschylus, but in all of human history. It deals with the Persian loss to the Greeks at the Battle of Salamis. Seven Against Thebes (467) - The story of Polynices' rise against his brother, Eteocles, to take his inherited share of the Theban kingdom.

Agamemnon (458) - The first of the Oresteia trilogy, it deals with Agamemnon's murder, by his wife and her lover. Libation Bearers (458) - The second in the Oresteia trilogy, the play follows Agamemnon's son, Orestes, and the murder of his mother, thus avenging his father's death. Eumenides (458) - The third of the Oresteia trilogy, where Orestes is threatened by the Furies, goddesses of wrath and revenge, after the murder of his mother. The Suppliants (unknown) - Recounts fifty maidens who were being aggressively courted by fifty men, forcing the maidens into hiding. Prometheus Bound (unknown) - The story of the Titan, Prometheus, who gave fire to mankind and was punished for it by Zeus, who chained him to a rock to be eaten by birds day after day. slide 6 of 7 Sophocles' Surviving Plays Ajax (450-440) - Deals with the events following the Trojan War involving the great warrior Ajax. Achilles' armor is given to Odysseus instead of Ajax.

Ajax seeks revenge for this treachery. Antigone (c. 441) - Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus. Her brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, have both fallen in battle, but Antigone's uncle, Creon, who has taken her father's throne, insists that Polynices body be left unburied as he turned against Thebes. Antigone sets out to give her brother his proper burial. Oedipus the King (c. 430-425) - Oedipus is told by the Oracle of Delphi that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus seeks to avoid this terrible prophecy, but he does not know his true parents. In seeking them out, his prophecy is fulfilled. Electra (c.418-410) - Sophocles' take on the revenge of Orestes, with a focus on his sister, Electra. Trachiniae (c. 413) - A look at Deianira, the wife of Heracles, as she worries about his fate during his adventures.

Philoctetes (409) - Tells the story of the retrieval of Philoctetes from the Greek isle of Lemnos. Due to illness resulting from a snake bite, he was left on the island by Odysseus. A prophet tells the Greeks that they cannot win the Trojan War until Philoctetes has been rescued. It is Odysseus who must go back and retrieve Philoctetes, now his sworn enemy. Oedipus at Colonus (406) - Written just before his death and performed posthumously, this play looks at the death of Oedipus, also prophesied by the Delphic Oracle. slide 7 of 7 Euripides' Surviving Plays Alcestis (438) - Admetus, the king of Pherae, marries Alcestis, but he offends Artemis who condemns him to death. Alcestis offers to take his place in death. Fortunately, both are saved by Heracles. Medea (431) - This play follows the murderous wife of Jason, Medea. She is distraught over Jason's decision to marry another woman and vows to kill herself and their children.

Hippolytus (428) - The tragedy of Hippolytus depicts the man's struggles after having insulted Aphrodite. The Children of Heracles (417-415) - The children of Heracles must flee when his arch nemesis, Eurystheus, plans to kill them. Andromache (417-415) - Andromache is the wife of the great Trojan prince and warrior, Hector. The story follows the title character's struggles after the death of her husband. Hecuba (417-415) - She is the wife of Priam, the king of Troy. After the Trojan War, she is enslaved by the Greeks. Her daughter is about to be sacrificed, but Hecuba may be able to save her. Heracles (417-415) - Heracles' family is in trouble back home while he is in the Underworld searching for Cerberus.

The Suppliants (417-415) - Polynices and Eteocles, the sons of Oedipus who fought for control of Thebes, are both dead, yet Creon has decreed that the traitor Polynices and his men, the Argives, are not to be buried.The mothers of the Argives seek to give them proper burial. Ion (417-415) - The story of the orphan Ion and how he discovers his parents. The Trojan Women (415) - The women of Troy were in a lot of trouble once the Greeks sacked the city. This play focuses on the plights of many notable women after the fall of Troy, including Hecuba, Andromache, and Helen. Electra (417-408) - Euripides' take on the story of the children of Agamemnon and their attempt to avenge their father's murder. Iphigenia in Tauris (417-408) - Tells the story of the sacrifice of Iphigenia, who, at the last moment before her sacrifice, was saved by Artemis and sent to Tauris.

Helen (412) - This play tells Helen's side of the story of her infidelity. Her version has a strange twist, leaving her in Egypt while a fake Helen is kidnapped by Paris, prince of Troy. The Phoenician Women (c. 409) - Euripides' version of Polynices decision to attack his home of Thebes when his brother, Eteocles, refuses to share power. Orestes (408) - Euripidess take on the story of Orestes, who avenges the death of his father by killing the murderer, his mother. The Bacchae (unknown) - The story of Dionysus' return to Thebes to bring honor to his mother, Semele, and give the Thebans the freedom to worship him. Iphigenia in Aulis (unknown) - This play takes place just prior to the Trojan War as the Greeks prepare to sail for Troy. There is no wind for their journey and Agamemnon learns that he must sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, if the wind is to return.

Cyclops (unknown) - The only surviving satyr play focuses on Odysseus' defeat of the cyclops, Polyphemus. ◄ ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ► Sophocles | Penguin Random House Penguin Random House S About the Author Sophocles, the Greek tragic dramatist, was born at Colonus near Athens about 496 B.C. Although hopelessness and misfortune plague the characters in his great plays, Sophocles’s own life was a long, prosperous one. He was from a good family, well educated, handsome, wealthy, healthy, and highly respected by his fellow Athenians. His first dramatic production, in 468, won the prize over Aeschylus’s. He wrote two dozen more plays before 450, by which date he had made important changes in the form of tragedy by adding a third speaking actor to the traditional two, by reducing the importance of the chorus, and by improving the stage scenery. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays; seven complete plays survive (plus half a light satyr play, some fragments, and ninety titles).

Aristotle, in his Poetics, praised Sophocles above other tragedians and regarded his masterpiece, OEDIPUS THE KING, as a model for Greek tragedy. Sophocles’s plays won more victories than the plays of either his older contemporary Aeschylus or the younger Euripides. The circumstances of his life, as well as his plays, suggest that Sophocles was conservative, and opposed to innovation in religion and politics. At eighty-three he was still active in the Athenian government. He died in 406 B.C. in Athens at the age of ninety. Sign me up for news about Sophocles Books by Sophocles Three Theban Plays - Sophocles - Google Books Three Theban Plays 0 Reviews The story of Oedipus has captured the human imagination as few others. It is the story of a man fated to kill his father and marry his mother, a man who by a cruel irony brings these things to pass by his very efforts to avoid them. But these plays are not about fate, and not about irony. They are about character, choice and consequence.

In Antigone we see a woman who will defy human law, and die for it, rather than transgress the eternal, unwritten laws of the gods. Oedipus the Tyrant is the story of a ruler destroyed by those qualities - pride, determination and belief in his own abilities - which made him ruler in the first place. Finally, in Oedipus at Colonus, written late in Sophocles' life, the aged and blinded king achieves a personal reconciliation, but at a cost - a son who will die in battle against his country, and a daughter who will die burying her brother. Greek Playwrights | Greek Theatre Greek Playwrights Famous Greek Authors and Play writes. Sophocles; 497 – 405 BC Sophocles was the second of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus and earlier than those of Euripides. According to the Suda, a 10th century encyclopedia, Sophocles wrote 123 plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form: Ajax.

(440BC) Oedipus the King (409? BC) Philoctetes. (409 BC) Oedipus at Colonus. (405 BC) For almost 50 years, Sophocles was the most-awarded playwright in the dramatic competitions of the city-state ofAthens that took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. Sophocles’ first artistic triumph was in 468 BC when he took first prize in the Dionysia theatre competition over the reigning master of Athenian drama, Aeschylus. Sophocles competed in around 30 competitions; he won perhaps 24 and never received lower than second place. The most famous of Sophocles’ tragedies are those concerning Oedipus and Antigone: these are often known as the Theban plays, although each play was actually a part of different tetralogy, the other members of which are now lost. Sophocles influenced the development of the drama. Among Sophocles’ earliest innovations was the addition of a third actor, which further reduced the role of the chorus and created greater opportunity for character development and conflict between characters.

He developed his characters to a greater extent than earlier playwrights such as Aeschylus. Aeschylus: Born Elefsina 525BC 7 of 74 of his works are preserved today. 1. The Persans (472BC) 2. The Seven against Thebes (467BC) 3. The suppliants (464BC) 5. The libation – Bearers (458BC) 6. Eumendis (458BC) Euripides : Born 480BC Halandi, Athens. Died 406BC 19 of 72 works are save (18 tragedies and 1 drama) 1. Rhesus (450BC) The Three Theban Plays : Sophocles : 9780140444254 Add to basket Add to wishlist Description Towering over the rest of Greek tragedy, Sophocles' The Three Theban Plays are among the most enduring and timeless dramas ever written. This Penguin Classics edition is translated by Robert Fagles with introductions and notes by Bernard Knox.

Collected here are Antigone, Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus, in a translation by Robert Fagles which retains all of Sophocles' lucidity and power: the cut and thrust of his dialogue, his ironic edge, the surge and majesty of his choruses and, above all, the agonies and triumphs of his characters. Oedipus in exile, searching for his identity, desperately trying to avoid his fate, seeking the truth of his origins and achieving immortality; his daughter, Antigone, defending her integrity and ideals to the death - these heroic, tragic figures have captivated theatregoers and readers since the fifth century BC. It is Sophocles' characterisation of Oedipus that would, in the nineteenth century, inspire Sigmund Freud to a revolutionary conception of the human mind, and the tragedies in this volume continue to move and inspire us to this day. Sophocles (496-405 BC) was born at Colonus, just outside Athens.

His long life spanned the rise and decline of the Athenian Empire; he was a friend of Pericles, and though not an active politician he held several public offices, both military and civil. The leader of a literary circle and friend of Herodotus, Sophocles wrote over a hundred plays, drawing on a wide and varied range of themes, and winning the City Dionysia eighteen times; though only seven of his tragedies have survived, among them Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Ajax and Oedipus at Colonus. If you enjoyed The Three Theban Plays, you might like Aeschylus' The Oresteia, also available in Penguin Classics. 'I know of no better English version' Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Oxford University 'The most impressive verse translations of Sophocles that have been made' Stephen Spender show more Product details 109.22 x 177.8 x 12.7mm | 22.68g Publication date Sophocles - Ancient History Encyclopedia Sophocles by Mark Cartwright published on 29 September 2013 Sophocles of Kolōnos (c. 496 - c.

406 BCE) was one of the most famous and celebrated writers of tragedy plays in ancient Greece and his surviving works, written throughout the 5th century BCE, include such classics as Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Women of Trachis. As with other Greek plays, Sophocles’ work is not only a record of Greek theatre but also provides an invaluable insight into many of the political and social aspects of ancient Greece, from family relations to details of Greek religion . In addition, Sophocles’ innovations in theatre presentation would provide the foundations for all future western dramatic performance, and his plays continue to be performed today in theatres around the world. The Greek world had three great tragedians: Aeschylus (c. 525 - c. 456 BCE), Euripides (c. 484 - 407 BCE), and Sophocles. Their works were usually first performed in groups of threes (not necessarily trilogies) in such religious festivals as the competitions of Dionysos Eleuthereus, notably the City Dionysia in Athens .

The plays were often performed again in lesser theatres around Greece, and the best were even distributed in written form for public reading, kept as official state documents for posterity, and studied as part of the standard Greek education. Advertisement Life Sophocles had an exceptionally long career. His first competition entry was in 468 BCE and his last (whilst still alive) was in 406 BCE when he was 90. Clearly a great admirer of his fellow playwrights, Sophocles even dressed the actors and chorus of his final play in mourning to mark the death of Euripides in 407 BCE. Sophocles won at least 20 festival competitions, including 18 at the City Dionysia. He also came second many times and never had the ignominy of being voted third and last in competitions. Sophocles was, therefore, at least in terms of victories, the most successful of the three great tragedians. Tremendously popular in his own time, Sophocles was also an innovative playwright. As a child, Sophocles had been the chief dancer in the festivities to celebrate victory over the Persians in 479 BCE.

Early in his career Sophocles even acted in his own plays, but due to a weak voice he settled into the role of writer only. The playwright, based on his practical experience of acting no doubt, seems to have had a favourite principal actor, one Tlepolemus. As to Sophocles’ character we have hints from Aristophanes , the great writer of Greek Comedy , who describes his contemporary as ‘easy-going’ and ‘relaxed’. Outside of theatre life, Sophocles was also an active member of the Athenian polis . He was a state treasurer (hellenotamiai) between 443 and 442 BCE and a general (alongside Pericles ) involved with putting down the revolt on Samos in c. 441 BCE. In 413 BCE he sat on the ten-man council (the probouloi) which was convened to deal with the crisis of Athens’ failed Sicilian expedition against Syracuse . In later life the playwright was involved in a legal battle with his son who claimed his father was senile and so sought his inheritance and control of the family property. We know that Sophocles was a pious individual and actually a priest in the hero cult of Halon.

Following his death, the tragedian was himself honoured with a cult when he was renamed Dexion. Advertisement Approach & Innovation Tremendously popular in his own time, Sophocles was also an innovative playwright, as he added a third actor to the tragedy play format and was the first to employ painted scenery (to suggest a rural scene, for example), sometimes even changing scenery during the play. The use of three actors (playing multiple roles and wearing masks) was a major breakthrough as now much more sophisticated plots became possible. Sophocles, therefore, stands between the earlier Aeschylus and the later Euripides. Sophocles was more interested in realistic action than his predecessors but kept the chorus segment (a group of up to 15 actors who sang rather than spoke their lines) as a more participatory cast member than his successors. For Sophocles the chorus became both a protagonist and a commentator on the events of the play, creating a closer relationship with the audience.

Sophocles was also a great user of theatrical metaphor, for example, blindness in the Oedipus plays and bestiality in Women of Trachis, and his work in general sought to provoke and disturb the audience from their ready acceptance of what is ‘normal’ and what is not, forcing them through the play’s characters to make difficult or even impossible choices. Other techniques he used to convey meaning and emphasis were dramatic entrances and exits of actors and the repeated use of significant props such as the urn in Electra and the sword in Ajax. Finally, in the language itself that Sophocles used we see more innovation. Rich language, highly formalised but with flexibility added by running over sentences and including segments of more ‘natural’ speech, and the unusual use of pauses result in Sophocles achieving a greater rhythm, fluidity, and dramatic tension than his contemporaries. The plays of Sophocles, like those of his contemporaries, drew on classic tales of Greek mythology . This was the convention of tragedy (tragōida), and the familiarity of the story and setting to the audience allowed the writer to focus on specific elements and interpret them in a novel way.

Sophocles is very often not so concerned with what happened (the audience already knew this) but with how these events happened. Another typical feature is that amongst the principal characters, there is usually a hero figure with exceptional abilities whose over-confidence and pride ensure a tragic ending. Remove Ads Advertisement One of his most famous works is Antigone in which the lead character pays the ultimate price for burying her brother Polynices against the wishes of King Kreon of Thebes . It is a classic situation of tragedy - the political right of having the traitor Polynices denied burial rites is contrasted against the moral right of a sister seeking to lay to rest her brother. A theme that runs through Sophocles’ work is right battling against right and that the characters are mistaken in their interpretation of events. Only when tragedy results, when in fact, it is all too late, do the characters recognise truth. Sophocles' Works We know that Sophocles wrote around 120 plays in all but these have survived only in a fragmentary form. A reasonable chunk of the satyr play The Searchers survives but in many cases only a few lines have withstood the ravages of time.

Sophocles’ seven surviving full plays are: Antigone (c. 442 BCE) about a woman torn between public and private duty. Oedipus The King (429 - 420 BCE) about the famous king who loved his mother a little too much. Philoctetes (409 BCE) on how Odysseus persuades the hero to join the Trojan War . Oedipus at Colonus (401 BCE) the final part of the trilogy about Oedipus. Ajax (date unknown) on the hero of the Trojan War and his wounded pride. Electra (date unknown) about two siblings who take revenge for their father’s murder. Women of Trachis (date unknown) about the wife of Hercules and her failed attempt to regain her husband’s affections. Below is a selection of extracts from Sophocles’ work: Setting the tragic scene: Chorus Am I deluded, or do I hear a lamentation just arising in the house? What am I saying? Someone is uttering no muted cry, but one of sorrow, and there is new trouble in the house.

Notice how sadly, and with what a cloud upon here eyes, the old woman is approaching us to tell us something. (863-870, Women of Trachis) How passion is hard to master, and if left uncontrolled, can lead to tragedy: Whoever stands up to Eros like a boxer is a fool; for he rules me. (440-441, Women of Trachis) That whatever happens, one can often only blame oneself: Chorus It is you, whose fate is grievous, who have chosen this; this fortune has not come to you from one more powerful; for when it was possible to show good sense, you chose to approve the worse, rather than the better fate. (1095-1100, Philoctetes)

Question: Which Greek dramatist wrote the three Theban Plays?
Answer: Sophocles